1970 Open Championship

Golf tournament

1970 Open ChampionshipTournament information

Dates| 8–12 July 1970
Location| St Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)| Old Course at St Andrews
Statistics
Par| 72[1]
Length| 6,951 yards (6,356 m)[1]
Field| 134 players
80 after 1st cut
57 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut| 149 (+5) (1st cut)
223 (+7) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund| £40,000
$96,000
Winner's share| £5,250
$12,600
Champion
Jack Nicklaus
283 (−5), playoff

<- 1969

1971 ->

St Andrews

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Location in Scotland

St Andrews

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Location in Fife, Scotland

The 1970 Open Championship was the 99th Open Championship, played 8–12 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won the second of his three Opens in an 18-hole Sunday playoff over Doug Sanders, 72 to 73.[2][3][4] In gusty winds during the fourth round on Saturday, Sanders saved par from the Road Hole bunker and led by one heading to the 72nd hole. After a lengthy drive on the short par-4, he took four shots from just 74 yards (68 m) and missed a downhill putt for par from three feet to win.[5][6]

This was the first playoff at The Open since 1963 and the first at 18 holes. The previous playoffs were 36 holes on Saturday. Prior to 1966, the final two rounds of The Open were played on Friday. The playoff format was changed again to the four-hole aggregate after the 1985 Open, first used in 1989.

A thunderstorm late in the opening round on Wednesday evening caused a suspension in play;[7] it was competed early the next day.[8]

## Course

[edit]

Main article: Old Course at St Andrews

Hole | Name | Yards | Par |  | Hole | Name | Yards | Par

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | Burn | 374 | 4 |  | 10 | Tenth ^ | 338 | 4
2 | Dyke | 411 | 4 | 11 | High (In) | 170 | 3
3 | Cartgate (Out) | 405 | 4 | 12 | Heathery (In) | 312 | 4
4 | Ginger Beer | 470 | 4 | 13 | Hole O'Cross (In) | 427 | 4
5 | Hole O'Cross (Out) | 567 | 5 | 14 | Long | 560 | 5
6 | Heathery (Out) | 414 | 4 | 15 | Cartgate (In) | 413 | 4
7 | High (Out) | 364 | 4 | 16 | Corner of the Dyke | 380 | 4
8 | Short | 163 | 3 | 17 | Road | 466 | 4
9 | End | 359 | 4 | 18 | Tom Morris | 358 | 4
Out | 3,527 | 36 | In | 3,424 | 36
Source:[9] | Total | 6,951 | 72

^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972

Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]

* 6,926 yards (6,333 m) - 1964
* 6,936 yards (6,342 m) - 1960, 1955

## Round summaries

[edit]

### First round

[edit]

Wednesday, 8 July 1970
Thursday, 9 July 1970

Place | Player | Score | To par

|
|
|

1 |  Neil Coles | 65 | −7
2 |  Tommy Horton | 66 | −6
T3 |  Maurice Bembridge | 67 | −5
Harold Henning
Tony Jacklin
Florentino Molina
John Richardson
T8 |  Tommy Aaron | 68 | −4
Brian Huggett
Jack Nicklaus
Arnold Palmer
Doug Sanders
Peter Thomson
Lee Trevino
Guy Wolstenholme

Source:[1][7]

### Second round

[edit]

Thursday, 9 July 1970

Place | Player | Score | To par

|
|
|

1 |  Lee Trevino | 68-68=136 | −8
T2 |  Tony Jacklin | 67-70=137 | −7
Jack Nicklaus | 68-69=137
T4 |  Clive Clark | 69-70=139 | −5
Neil Coles | 65-74=139
Harold Henning | 67-72=139
Tommy Horton | 66-73=139
John Richardson | 67-72=139
Doug Sanders | 68-71=139
T10 |  Christy O'Connor Snr | 72-68=140 | −4
Arnold Palmer | 68-72=140

Source:[1][8]
Amateurs: Melnyk (-1), Bonallack (+1), Humphreys (+2), George (+2), Webster (+5),
MacDonald (+7), Berry (+8), Steel (+10), Mosey (+11), Sumner (+11), Sweeny Jr (+11), Farmer (+14)

### Third round

[edit]

Friday, 10 July 1970

Place | Player | Score | To par

|
|
|

1 |  Lee Trevino | 68-68-72=208 | −8
T2 |  Tony Jacklin | 67-70-73=210 | −6
Jack Nicklaus | 68-69-73=210
Doug Sanders | 68-71-71=210
T5 |  Neil Coles | 65-74-72=211 | −5
Peter Oosterhuis | 73-69-69=211
7 |  Harold Henning | 67-72-73=212 | −4
T8 |  Tommy Horton | 66-73-75=214 | −2
Hugh Jackson | 69-72-73=214
Christy O'Connor Snr | 72-68-74=214

Source:[1][10]
Amateurs: Melnyk (+3), Humphreys (+6), Bonallack (+8), George (+9), Webster (+11)

### Final round

[edit]

Saturday, 11 July 1970

Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£)

|
|
|
|

T1 |  Jack Nicklaus | 68-69-73-73=283 | −5 | Playoff
Doug Sanders | 68-71-71-73=283
T3 |  Harold Henning | 67-72-73-73=285 | −3 | 2,750
Lee Trevino | 68-68-72-77=285
5 |  Tony Jacklin | 67-70-73-76=286 | −2 | 2,200
T6 |  Neil Coles | 65-74-72-76=287 | −1 | 1,750
Peter Oosterhuis | 73-69-69-76=287
8 |  Hugh Jackson | 69-72-73-74=288 | E | 1,400
T9 |  Tommy Horton | 66-73-75-75=289 | +1 | 1,200
John Panton | 72-73-73-71=289
Peter Thomson | 68-74-73-74=289

Source:[1][3][11]
Amateurs: Melnyk (+10), Humphreys (+13)

### Playoff

[edit]

Sunday, 12 July 1970

Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£)

|
|
|
|

1 |  Jack Nicklaus | 72 | E | 5,250
2 |  Doug Sanders | 73 | +1 | 3,750

Source:[3]

Jack Nicklaus

#### Scorecard

[edit]

Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

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|
|
|
|
|
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Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4
Jack Nicklaus | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | +1 | E
Doug Sanders | E | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1

| Birdie  |  | Bogey

|
|
|

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 52, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
2. ^ "Sanders loses by one stroke". Glasgow Herald. 13 July 1970. p. 1.
3. ^ a b c Jacobs, Raymond (13 July 1970). "Nicklaus regains Open title despite Sanders's late fightback". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
4. ^ "Nicklaus tops Sanders, wins British title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 13 July 1970. p. 3B.
5. ^ "Sanders, Nicklaus tie for golf title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 12 July 1970. p. 4B.
6. ^ Jenkins, Dan (20 July 1970). "Virtue in the Valley of Sin". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
7. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (9 July 1970). "Jacklin eight under par in Open when storm stops play". Glasgow Herald. p. 6.
8. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (10 July 1970). "Trevino leads by one stroke from Jacklin and Nicklaus". Glasgow Herald. p. 6.
9. ^ "Card of the course". Glasgow Herald. 8 July 1970. p. 6.
10. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1970). "Trevino increases lead but Open championship still in balance". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
11. ^ "1970 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 8 July 2012.

## External links

[edit]

* St Andrews 1970 (Official site)

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